Description

Argument in Composition provides access to a wide range of resources that bear on the teaching of writing and argument. The ideas of major theorists of classical and contemporary rhetoric and argument—from Aristotle to Burke, Toulmin, and Perelman—are explained and elaborated, especially as they inform pedagogies of argumentation and composition. John Ramage, Micheal Callaway, Jennifer Clary-Lemon, and Zachary Waggoner present methods of teaching informal fallacies and analyzing propaganda, while also providing a rationale for preferring an argument approach over other available approaches to the teaching of writing. The authors also identify the role of argument in pedagogies that are not overtly called argument, including pedagogies that foreground feminism, liberation, critical cultural studies, writing across the curriculum, genre, service learning, technology, and visual rhetoric. The lists of further reading and the annotated bibliography provide opportunities for learning more about the approaches presented in this indispensable guide.

About the Authors

John Ramage is Emeritus Professor at Arizona State University and the author of numerous books, including Rhetoric: A User’s Guide (2005) and (with John Bean and June Johnson) Writing Arguments. Micheal Callaway is Residential Faculty at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona, where he focuses on teaching and developing curriculum for developmental writing courses. Zachary Waggoner teaches courses in rhetoric, composition, videogame theory, and new teaching assistant education at Arizona State University. He is the author of My Avatar, My Self: Identity in Video Role-Playing Games (McFarland, 2009). Jennifer Clary-Lemon is Assistant Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Winnipeg. She is co-editor, with Peter Vandenberg and Sue Hum, of Relations, Locations, Positions: Composition Theory for Writing Teachers (NCTE, 2006) and has published work in Composition Studies, American Review of Canadian Studies, and (with Maureen Daly Goggin and Duane Roen) the Handbook of Research on Writing.

Contents

Series Editor’s Preface
Preface

1 Introduction: Why Argument Matters

Coming to an Understanding of Argument
John Leo, “Cultural Relativism Leaves Some Blind to Evil”
Stanley Fish, “Condemnation without Absolutes”
Discussion of Leo and Fish Part I: Some Theoretical Background
Discussion of Leo and Fish Part II: Getting from Duality to Commitment
Leo and Fish Part III: The Elements of Argument
Argument and “the purification of war”
Why Students Need Argument
Argument and Critical Literacy
Argument and Identity
Ethics and Argument
Notes

The Fallacy Debate
The Pragma-Dialectical Approach to Fallacies
Alternatives to Focusing on Argument in a Writing Class: Critical/Cultural Studies
Expressivist Pedagogy
Procedural Rhetoric
To Teach or Not to Teach . . . Propaganda
What Is Propaganda? Burke and Ellul
Propaganda in a Nutshell
Notes

4 Introduction to Best Practices

What Works in Teaching Writing
Best PracticesLiberatory Rhetoric
Works Cited
For Further Reading
Argument Textbooks
Scholarly Works

Feminism and Argument
Works Cited
For Further Reading
Argument Textbooks
Scholarly Works

Service Learning and Argument
Works Cited
For Further Reading
Argument Textbooks
Scholarly Works

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) and Writing in the Disciplines (WID)Works Cited
For Further Reading
Argument Textbooks
Scholarly Works—General
Anthropology
Business
Economics
Engineering
Political Science
Computers and Writing
Works Cited
For Further Reading
Textbooks
Scholarly Works

Visual Rhetoric
Works Cited
For Further Reading
Textbooks
Scholarly Works